Gazprom Says Ukraine Lacks Enough Gas to Ensure EU Supply

OAO Gazprom (GAZP), Russia’s natural-gas
export monopoly, said neighboring Ukraine has insufficient
stockpiles of the fuel to meet its own demand and ensure supply
to Europe this winter.

“It’s a catastrophe,” Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Vitaliy Markelov said in an e-mailed statement. “In these
conditions, the winter transit of Russian gas won’t be possible
because storage won’t be enough to compensate for Ukrainian
consumer drawdowns.”

Russian gas supplies to Europe, comprising about a quarter
of the region’s demand, have been halted several times in the
past decade amid disputes over price and transit arrangements
with Ukraine. Relations between the two nations may deteriorate
further should Ukraine sign a free-trade agreement with the
European Union this month, snubbing a customs union with Russia.

Ukraine has begun to dip into winter storage, reducing gas
levels to 17.6 billion cubic meters, when 21.5 billion cubic
meters are needed at the start of winter, Markelov said. The
current rate of withdrawal will drain storage to 14 billion
cubic meters by the time Ukraine’s cold weather takes hold,
he said.

Olena Yuriyeva, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s state-run
energy company NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy, didn’t answer her mobile
phone when called after business hours. Oleksandr Kolodiy, a
spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Boyko, responsible for
energy policy, wasn’t able to comment immediately.

Russia’s former Soviet neighbor needs gas not only for its
own consumption and to deliver to Europe, but to fuel the
pumping stations that send the gas.

Ukraine stopped importing Russian gas earlier this month
after fulfilling a plan to buy 18 billion cubic meters for the
year, RIA Novosti reported yesterday, citing Ukrainian Energy
Minister Eduard Stavytskyi. The country doesn’t plan further
purchases this year, according to the report.